


Rocky Beginnings, Solid Foundations

by babyyodadissapointment



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Background Relationships, But in the good parent way, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Minor Character Death, Not quite a blink and you'll miss it but it isn't the biggest feature, Single Parents, This is mostly in a third person/present tense but I've never been good holding tones, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25909435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyyodadissapointment/pseuds/babyyodadissapointment
Summary: “May I see her?” He asks, and the guard nods. When he takes the child in his arms, she quiets down and opens up her eyes. They are a bright gold just like his had been. The way she is calmed by his arms has to mean something. And when the messenger shows him the letter, he recognizes the seal as matching one of the family seals.“I will need to get a cot taken to my chambers, and I’ll need to hire a wet nurse,” he says calmly, he takes the bag with the books and the scrolls and tells the warrior next to him to take it to his chambers as well. The girl in his arms watches him as he does this, not sure what she is seeing.- - -Or, Zuko learns he has a daughter in a non-traditional way and the issues of adjusting to  a status that he's always been slightly afraid of.
Relationships: Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 155





	Rocky Beginnings, Solid Foundations

As a child, he learns how the lines pass from father to son. He learns how children is something that is expected from him. His sister mocks him that he’s too stupid to ever be king, and that it won’t even matter. He scoffs it off, because babies are gross. And he is in fact only a child. He’s still so young when he becomes Fire Lord, and has to start thinking about running the country, it throws him into a loop and an ocean of work that he can barely float on top of. On his eighteenth birthday, his advisors start to push him towards marriage and youth. They remind him that his country is in turmoil, he needs heirs to cement this new line. He tells them there will still be time. His whole life is in front of him. He does not intend to rush into anything at all.  
He is twenty-four when he does become a father.  
The whole event is set into motion by one angry councilman. An older man, someone who was too comfortable with the old ways, but still loyal to him. Or so he thought. The man had objected to many of his changes. These were changes that handled things such as the allowance of marriage equality, the changing of rules about registering gender, and rules about adoptions. With these new laws, he also pardons all people currently jailed for such offenses. The fight is one that he has only escalated over time.  
“Sir, I merely ask if you’ve thought about marriage. It is something important to think about. Unless your progressive movements are more…self-serving.”  
The room quiets quickly. The implication was clear enough. And his feelings about that implication were also clear. Several sets of eyes flick between him and his advisor, and he lets out a sharp breath, which causes the candles to flare all around him.  
“Shut up!” He yells, “at the moment it is none of your business! I will deal with this in time, and you will not bring it up again.”  
He leaves the council meeting after that, fuming slightly. As much as he wants to banish the thoughts from his mind they settle there like acid. It was not the words that repulsed him, he’d accepted that part of himself so long ago, or he thought he had at least. Maybe he hadn’t. It didn’t matter anyway. His own feelings did not change the fact that he did not want to share with the rest of the world. He cannot even bring himself to say it to his uncle, when he sits down across from him, on one of the older man’s rare visits. His uncle hands him a cup of tea as he goes into the issue, and his own feelings about romance, and how he cannot even think about his heirs or being in love now. Or ever, there is so much to do with governing.  
“you need not worry nephew, everything will come forward in its proper time. Love and all other things are part of the plan of time and the spirits. Everything happens at the time it is planned to.”  
He tries to ponder those words and tries to let them settle into the fiber of his being that they are true. These thoughts are something that he needs to process, and a party thrown for some important person’s birthday or something along those lines. He only comes because he wants to show some loyalty to an important figure, someone who could cause problems if he wasn’t loyal. He is trying to think about it as he sees the advisor in question from the other side of the room. He darts around avoiding that man, and eventually, as more people talk to him he starts to avoid all together. His head hurts and he’s in no mood to talk. After a respectful time, he plans on sneaking out through the service entrance behind a tapestry. That was when he met her.  
She has a soft kind face, and was also sneaking behind the tapestry to escape from the party. He vaguely knew her. A face he could almost pin from a large crowd. A noble family, a girl from the court. He could place her, yes, but there was no way he would be able to name her without any of the  
“Sorry your highness,” she says with a bow “I thought I was here alone, I wanted to get away.”  
“It is alright, that’s what I was planning on doing myself.”  
She lets out a laugh, kept quiet because they were still standing in a small stone corridor. He gestures down the hallway and they walk down in silence, before exiting out into the barely lit servants quarters. They strike up a small conversation then. She introduces herself, her name is Emiko, and he introduces himself as well, though he knows that it is not at all necessary. Their conversation is gentle, but barely talk about anything. Eventually, they end up outside of his chambers, and with all of his thoughts running through his head and some of the edge from the wine from the party he invites her inside. She agrees heartily. They speak more, and eventually he leans over and kisses her. It continues from there, with the edge and his own turmoil pushing him forward.  
“May I continue?” He asks, and he doesn’t continue until he hears her say yes. He then presses forward. The contact is short, and not particularly good for either party. On his part it is very awkward, rutting on top of her for just a short while before finishing. Her response is a flushed cheek, and quiet breath, though he is not sure that she had enjoyed herself. Something that is only more cemented when she nods at him before standing and getting dressed. He makes a kind of noise that might be a request to stay with him. She does not take him up on the offer and leaves out his door. He falls back on his bed and stared at the ceiling before slowly drifting off to sleep.  
He is not sure how to proceed with their relationship after this. He sees her a few times. Nodding at her, and she responds by nodding back to him. He wants to speak to her about what happened, but he cannot find the correct words, and she seems to forget it, so he does not push for it, and he does not press her on it. It would be awkward for him to do so, and he does not wish to make her upset. The only exchange that they do share is a short one where he tells her that he is leaving on a diplomatic tour for a few months, and she tells him that she hopes that he enjoys his trip before walking off. If he had been aware of the importance of this meeting he might have made more of it.  
The diplomatic trip laster for five months. He is not sure of the success of it, but he believes that it is good, and his is told of the massive success of the endeavor by his friends, and his uncle, and his advisors. He wonders if he will ever fully believe them. But he can see the countryside start to come back, the rebuilding of the existing cities that had been destroyed by his own family members over time, and finally the development of republic city. Something not ruled by kings or chiefs, elected by the people, a state of all nations. It is a vision, and it is a vision that he is very ready to endorse and he heartily does. When he does return he tentatively believes it was all a success.  
By the time he has returned he has mostly forgotten about the whole encounter with her. It was nothing to her, and really it was nothing to him. Only something to think about for a short period. Or so he thought.  
It is four months later when he is awoken by one of his guards pounding on his door.  
“Fire Lord Zuko! A messenger for you!”  
“What is it?”  
“We don’t know, he’ll only speak to you.”  
He dresses quickly and walks down the hall flanked by his guard. When he arrives at the hall he sees a man with a bundle in his arm. When the man saw him, he bowed deeply and offered the bundle to him. As the Fire Lord approached he saw what the bundle was. It was a small child, fussing slightly, fists tight, and eyes screwed shut.  
“Your Majesty, I was told to deliver her to you, and only you. I also have a letter and a tome.”  
He doesn’t know what to do, he’s stunned by the development. He’s aware that his guards are stunned do.  
“Who gave you the instruction?” One of the Kyoshi warriors who had flanked him asked. In his heart he knows.  
“May I see her?” He asks, and the guard nods. When he takes the child in his arms, she quiets down and opens up her eyes. They are a bright gold just like his had been. The way she is calmed by his arms has to mean something. And when the messenger shows him the letter, he recognizes the seal as matching one of the family seals.  
“I will need to get a cot taken to my chambers, and I’ll need to hire a wet nurse,” he says calmly, he takes the bag with the books and the scrolls, and tells the warrior next to him to take it to his chambers as well. The girl in his arms watches him as he does this, not sure what she is seeing.  
Sukki puts a hand on his shoulder and looks at him, he smiles awkwardly in return. The question sitting between them is not asked, and not answered. All of that will be dealt with later.  
That night he does not sleep. He instead watches her as she sleeps, calling to the wet nurse every time she cries. The woman comes and takes the baby away and he stares at the door unsure of what to do.  
One time while she is away he cracks the seal holding the letter closed. As he unrolls the scroll over his desk he sees a letter, one directed to him.  
“Dear Your Majesty, Fire Lord Zuko,” it begins. Highlighting the formality that was between the two of them.  
“If you have received this I have passed on into the spirit realm. Do not worry about me, for I am fine with it. I have been blessed in a short period of time, and have made my peace with my death. I wish you only think kindly of me and speak kindly of me to our child.  
When you left for your diplomatic meeting, I was sure that our encounter would mean nothing in the long run. And we would both move past it, that was until I began to feel the symptoms, and then my belly began to swell. It was undeniable what had happened. I had sent a message, but it must have gotten lost in transport. I had still been able to hide this from my family when I chose to excuse myself to the country, in order to keep this a secret until I could make a decision.  
I had accepted that plan at first until I spent time away. I found a love of the gardens, and the country. Instead of court life, I helped to manage the farm, and I picked up several new skills. I learned how to cook, working in the gardens, and sewing clothing. I grew to love this life. I decided that I would never return to court. I would make my life as others do. My mother was angered by this, but chose to accept it as she had no other options really. To make me come back would be to come to the country herself, and she would never do that. I would raise our daughter far away from the court and the drama that came with it. In exchange I would manage the household. It would be an ideal arrangement.  
As the arrival of our daughter brought different things though, new issues. I began to feel weaker, and had a harder time walking for long periods. The healers and women around me told me it was normal, but it did not feel so. I was so sick I could hardly stand, no food would stay down. I was worried, but no one else was so I powered on.  
Our daughter was born two weeks earlier than I was told by the healer. She was quiet at first and then she screamed so loud that I knew she was special. I feel that I borrowed those two weeks, ore they were a gift from her, because I since the birth I have not been myself. I bled for far too long, before they were able to make it stop. But I have had a fever and heavy sweating. The healers do not know what is wrong with me, but I am sick.  
I have named our daughter Izumi. It is very important that she keep that name, so I ask you that you keep her name. I have also given you my diaries, where I have recorded stories of carrying her. One day our daughter can read it, and can think fondly of me as well.”  
She finished her letter with a printing of her name. He looks over it again, just trying to fully understand. He feels a range of emotions quickly, ranging from anger at himself, to confusion, to frustration, to sadness. He wondered if it was on purpose that her letters did not arrive to him. He also wondered if he would have married her if he had known. Most likely he would have, which leads him to wonder what his future would have looked like, and what his life would look like now. His thoughts were broken up by the nurse who brought the little girl, Izumi, back into the room. As she settles in the small cot sleeping a little he makes up his mind. Izumi would be given the love and childhood he had never been given. As she sleeps he writes several letters to be sent out to a few people. He gave them to be sent out before settling back down to watching her sleep. A little in awe of her form.  
The next morning he calls a council meeting. Once they are all settled he announces that he now had an heir. A crown princess named Izumi. When he was no longer on the throne she would take his place. The council was shocked at his announcement and started shouting questions at him. All of the questions began to meld together until he called for order.  
“When was she born?” One man asks,  
“Less than a month previously,”  
“Who was her mother?” Another man shouted  
“She is no longer alive. In accordance with her wishes I do not wish to reveal her identity. This may become knowledge in the future, but I will not say.”  
“How long have you known and said nothing!”  
“I only found out when the princess was delivered to my door.”  
“Is she even yours? How do you know?”  
“You will have to trust me on that matter, won’t you?”  
After this last remark he dismisses the council. He will be taking a few days away from meetings in order to help settle his child. He would still be working, and could still be reached. He walks quickly out of the room, hearing the voices calling out to him. He does not want to answer that. He was thinking that  
The first of his friends to arrive was Aang and Katara, who had been traveling the world, working on healing divides, and rebuilding economies. They land in the garden and he meets them with all of the formal decorum that is expected of greeting the Avatar. As soon as they are behind closed doors however all of that falls away and the couple congratulates him loudly, almost tackling him. They coo over the little girl, who is now able to smile on purpose. And who stares up at them, smiling a little, before crying when mom stuck his face over her, startling her. He calms her down and eventually she and Momo form a fast friendship when the lemur brings her a leaf he found, and she grips it lightly in her small hands, waving it around. Later on, when Izumi is asleep and he calls for tea and wine and dinner, Katara turns down the wine. It turns out that she and Aang were expecting their first child. He laughs loudly and offers his sincere congratulations.  
“You know, when we were married, and when I found out, I was certain that we were going to be the first to be parents. And of course, you have to surprise us all and be first,” Katara laughs, hands settling on her stomach which he can now see the slight roundness in. He isn’t sure how he missed it.  
“As I said. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to you,” he says, letting out an almost laugh. His own conflicting feelings still bubbling around in his gut.  
Aang seems to have noticed the sadness in the laugh. “You’ll be a great father,” he says smiling at him. He can only nod in return, before waving off his mood. They return to talking about previous memories, and the mood lightens again. It is only when broken when Izumi ends up crying and he has to soothe her again. The conversation slowly dies off and they all say good night. They leave after two days, with the promise to return. They have to, because their children will all have to be friends.  
Iroh arrives next. This is the opinion that matters the most to him. He has always cared deeply about what the man thought of him. He stands nervously as the man approaches. When his uncle arrives he bows. Iroh bows back before pulling him into a hug and loudly proclaiming “when do I get to see my grand-niece!”  
He takes his uncle to see the child. She watches him intently, gold eyes flicking back and forth on the bearded face. With baby hands she tugs on his beard and Iroh lets out a booming laugh. He lets her tug a little bit more before he reaches up and picks her up. His uncle looking that  
Iroh made tea and the two sat by a low table while his daughter laid on a blanket on the floor, kicking her feet around, attempting to put her toes in her mouth. He looks fondly at her and then looks back at his uncle.  
“You know I have many questions about your daughter, and your letter did not fully explain it to me,”  
“It is a very complicated story. I wanted to save it for person,”  
“Well I find that stories go well with tea,”  
He runs his fingers around the rim of his cup, before sighing and beginning to tell the story. He spreads out what little he can, piecing from the meeting and the one night, to the sudden appearance of the baby on his door. He reveals all of his fears, that he was a bad person just like his father, abandoning her mother. And his fear that he will be a bad father, seeing Ozai reflected in his face, and his temper which he carefully maintained would flare-up. He was afraid that he would hurt his daughter, just like his father hurt him.  
Iroh places a hand on his shoulder and nods. His Uncle reminds him of his change, and his goodness. He points out that he was not responsible for the secrets of others. Iroh offered him a reassuring smile.  
“No one is a perfect father, you can only be the best father you can be. Caring and love, with the best intentions. And your daughter loves you already, you need not worry,”  
When he smiles it is the type of smile that only Iroh can bring onto his face. They settle into the rhythms of the day. They play Pai Sho, and Iroh calms Izumi a little later when she begins to fuss when she was ready to go to sleep. It feels like a beautiful family moment, like out of a portrait from a book.  
When Iroh leaves to go back to Ba Sing Se he makes him promise to come and visit, and to bring Izumi. He has brought his daughter to say goodbye to her great uncle, more of her grandfather in reality. He bounces her in his arms as they say goodbye and the baby laughs a little. Iroh says that she will have to come work at the Jasmine Dragon, just like her father did. He laughs in response and says she’ll probably be better at customer service than he ever was. Iroh loosely embraces the two of them before he goes back to his restaurant.  
Azula does not come visit. Instead, she writes him a note, saying she cannot come back at this point, but she hopes that one day to meet the child. She also hopes that Izumi is a fire bender, so that the two may spar. He writes back that he cannot promise any sparring, but he does hope the two meet.  
Sokka comes next, voice spilling loudly over the war balloon he lands on. When the two meet he finds himself dragged into a hug by the water tribe man. A hug that lasts a little longer than others, and sends a flush to his face.  
“Come on jerkbender, you’ve got to introduce me to jerk bender jr.” Sokka says, slapping him on the back.  
He lets out a breath at the slap. “She’s inside, probably still asleep. But she wakes easily, so I don’t know.”  
“I know that babies never sleep. Surprised you can even stay awake.”  
“Royal nannies do help.” He shrugs.  
Izumi was sleeping when he enters her room, but she stirs. He holds a finger up to stop Sokka for a second. When she settled he led the other man to move over to the crib. He slowly picked up his daughter to show his friend.  
“She’s beautiful,” Sokka said.  
The two men watch her sleep for a while, before she is taken away to be fed. They talk about many things, how restoration of the Southern Water Tribe is going, about the plans for republic city. Sokka talks about some of the other plans. He mentions to Sokka that there is an ambassador’s position open. How there hadn’t been an ambassador from the Southern Water tribe in many years. He offers Sokka the position, and Sokka accepts. They make plans as they walk back to Izumi, who was back from her feeding and was happy.  
Toph is the last one to come visit. Her reasoning “well it’s not like I can really see the baby can I?”  
He tries not to laugh at that. He doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction but he does let out a chuckle. That was enough for her though, as the grin spreads widely across her face. Toph gets close to Izumi, and the baby grabs her proffered finger, tugging on it. Toph nods in approval. Later when Izumi is crying she lands a blow on Toph’s legs, and the blind woman lets out a laugh.  
“She’s strong Sparky,” she says, after Izumi is taken away to be fed. “When she’s older I’ll have to train with her,”  
“I’m not going to let you pummel my daughter with rocks!”  
“I’d go easy on her…at first,”  
He shakes his head letting out an exasperated breath. Toph lets out another laugh.  
“Hey if it comes with that much energy maybe I should get me one of these,” she says, rocking Izumi’s cradle by swaying the earth back and forth.  
“It’s a lot of work. I wouldn’t recommend getting one casually.”  
“Well, you did…didn’t you?”  
He pauses for a second. “I…I guess you could say that.”  
If she notices the sadness in his voice she doesn’t say anything to him. She punches him in the shoulder, as the  
Izumi ages faster than he could ever imagine. Or at least it feels that way. She soon goes from watching him create little sparks with his fingers and laughing, to creating her own sparks. When she starts creating her own sparks he’s excited for her. She is able to make her own flame, but it is never strong. She never becomes the strongest fire bender, mostly just enough to light a small fire. He still hires her tutors for as long as she wants, eventually she quits. He still makes sure she knows everything that he thinks she needs to know. He guides his daughter through all of the proper breathing exercises, how to hold her stance, and one day when she is ready he will teach her how to redirect lightning. He hopes she never has to use it, but he wants to prepare her for the worst. After a very tough training session, with the basics, at around the age of seven, Izumi comes crying to him, with her struggles. He kisses her forehead and tells her that it doesn’t matter and he loves her no matter what. He promises to one day teach her how to fight with swords, he points to Sokka and the Kyoshi warriors as good examples of people who know how to fight without bending. She nods, and wipes her eyes. Later on she pleaded enough with Sokka so that he would teach her how to throw his boomerang. When he looks on to his daughter and partner he has to sigh and their matching broad grins as the piece of metal whips back towards them.  
As Izumi ages there is no longer any doubt that she was his daughter. She shared his thin face and bright eyes. In fact comparing her face to a portrait of his or a portrait of Azula’s is like looking in a mirror. But that does not stop the court gossip around her. Once when she is six, she comes barreling into the council room, trying to find him. Her nannies are rushing after her before she stops to grin at him, and show him the rocks she had found. He stops the meeting to see the rocks, complimenting them.  
“Can I stay?” She asks.  
“Of course, after all, one day this will be your job,” he says, picking her up and placing her on his lap so that she could see the table.  
She focuses very hard on the table for a while before her eyes start to droop. He smiles as she falls asleep on his lap. If the counselors are mad about her presence he doesn’t care. His daughter is young, and she may need to sleep. He conducts the rest of the meeting with her on his lap, smoothing out her hair in a gentle movement, helping to keep her to sleep. When the meeting is over he picks her up and carries her out, as Izumi shifts in his arms and lets out the sleepy sigh that only childhood can bring. When he places her down in her bed she wakes up for a second, before falling back to her sleep. He kisses her forehead and walks out of the room as quietly as possible, to not disturb her slumber.  
Sometimes he lays awake, speaking in hushed tones to Sokka about his fears. How he’s afraid that one day he would hurt Izumi. Or that she would grow to hate him. Or that he will not be a good father in the long run. Sokka shakes his head, and tells him not to worry about this all, because Izumi loves him more than anything. Repeating phrases he’s heard one hundred times. And while he’s afraid of messing things up, sometimes when Izumi hops into bed, waking him up with the sun, screaming about the good things she was going to do today he can’t help but think that maybe he hasn’t messed this whole thing up too bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all like this! I truly have not written a fic in 8 years, so this is a little weird to be back, but I've had this idea for a minute so here it is. Don't be  
> I actually have several more ideas for fics in this specific setting/AU as well as some more versions like Modern AUs, so if you are interested, let me know!


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